A boundary to overcome

Published on Saturday 16 August 2008 19:51

WHEN, weather permitting, Scotland march on to the field against England at The Grange tomorrow in cricket's first Auld Enemy clash, it will be a historic occasion. Not merely because it has taken well over a century for these two long-standing sporting rivals to square off, but because for the first time in three summers, Scotland will send forth its first-choice side, ready to attempt to write a script as improbable as any found in the adjoining Edinburgh Fringe.

The availability of Durham's Kyle Coetzer, plus Warwickshire's Navdeep Poonia and Calum MacLeod, gives the Scots six players with experience of the English circuit. Terrific though his form was in 2007, this will be Coetzer's one-day international debut, the consequence of a tug-of-love between county and country.

It is a conflict that the International Cricket Council plans to end. In return for a vast increase in investment in the second-tier Associate nations, the full members who control the sport want to see progress on the field. However, it is unfair to judge a sub-strength side. Coetzer missed last month's crushing eight-wicket loss to New Zealand, while a fortnight ago, Ireland saw in-form Middlesex batsman Eoin Morgan pull out of the World Twenty20 qualifiers at the last minute. He wanted to miss a day's play to turn out in a televised Pro40 tie. The Irish said no. A week later, he was called into the England Lions' squad. Was there any doubt he'd turn up for that? Not a chance.

To counter the criticism, the England and Wales Cricket Board issued a missive declaring its backing for English-based players who were placed in such no-win positions. "The ECB recognises that nation versus nation is the lifeblood of cricket," said chairman Giles Clarke. "And its integrity must be protected at all costs."

To that end, the ICC is preparing to draw up new regulations which would, as in football, effectively prohibit players who snub an international call-up from turning out elsewhere in the interim. "What we want," said a senior ICC source, "is to remove the player from the decision equation. It means that the country's board and his employer can still negotiate. But the player isn't left in the middle wondering what he should do."

Such an idea has been floated before, in a paper presented at a recent ICC board meeting. It is understood that it was the ECB, however, who raised the loudest objections. That was to be expected, given that its representatives act at the behest of the counties. Although some progress has been made, it would seem that a FIFA-style agreement will prove very awkward to reach.

"It's a difficult one because the players themselves are making decisions which don't necessarily favour their countries," admits Richard Done, the ICC's high-performance chief whose principal remit is aiding the advance of the Associate nations.

The last thing you want, declares Poonia, is a conflict between your county and your national team. Warwickshire, through their director of cricket Ashley Giles, have been enduringly more supportive than others. "I realise I'm very fortunate," the batsman acknowledges, "because I have the best of both worlds."

Yet he argues it would be "a dangerous rule" if international ASBOs were introduced. "(The county game] is your bread and butter. You can't really say to a kid 'if you can't play in that game, you're out for your county' because you're trying to get a professional contract. I love playing county cricket. So I think it needs to be dealt with between player, country and club."

Past precedent has demonstrated that not everyone will play ball. With more Associate cricket than ever, encounters of the likes of Scotland against England are set to become part of the regular schedule rather than oddities. And although the Indian Premier League and its lucrative ilk threaten to add another problematic dimension to this ongoing conundrum, someone needs to find a solution to prevent historical drama from descending into a second-rate farce.

Scotland squad: Ryan Watson (Forfarshire, captain); Gavin Hamilton (East Brierly), Kyle Coetzer (Durham), Navdeep Poonia (Warwickshire), Colin Smith (Aberdeenshire), Neil McCallum (Grange), Richie Berrington (Greenock), Craig Wright (Greenock), Calum MacLeod (Warwickshire), John Blain (Rotherham), Dewald Nel (Greenock), Gordon Drummond (Watsonians), Ross Lyons (Clydesdale).